SKI TOURING: SECURITY EQUIPMENT
Basics
To make sure that your ski tour will be an unforgettable experience, Peter Veider (training manager of the Tyrolean Mountain Rescue Service, mountain guide and registered ski instructor) has summarised the most important points for your backcountry tour. In order to avoid dangerous mistakes, it is essential to check the following:
- - emergency equipment + first-aid package?
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- sun cream + lip balm with adequate UV-protection?- sunglasses with UVA/B/C filter?
- - avalanche transceiver (sender + receiver) checked?
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Individual reponsibility
Always keep the following in mind: The security equipment described on this website includes only technical support. However, these can NOT absolve you from your individual responsibility. Just because of having an airbag, you don’t go 50 km/h faster by car either!
Avalanche prevention
Avalanche prevention begins with reasonable tour planning. Before leaving you must be familiar with the weather forecast, avalanche conditions and the number of people among the group. Statistics prove: not only gradient and position of the slope but also man itself are most likely to trigger off avalanche catastrophes. So don’t risk your life and avoid shadowy steep slopes in case of doubt.
Security
For the sake of your safety you should by all means carry an avalanche transceiver with you. However, this only makes sense if you have already practiced its use intensively before. Also other equipment may save lives:
Avalanche airbag
An avalanche airbag is not really cheap, but due to its survival rate of more than 90% it belongs to the most efficient security systems on the market. It is the only devise which actually reduces the depth of an entombment. In case of an emergency the airbag inflates containing approx. 150 litres of air by pulling the trigger line. Due to the extension of the volume the carrier remains on the surface of the avalanche. An avalanche airbag functions according to the principle of phase segregation, which is based on the physical processes inside an avalanche: smaller particles slip under bigger ones and push them up. During the slide, also a victim without airbag is repeatedly carried to the surface, but because of its high weight and little volume he or she cannot maintain this position and gets finally entombed at latest during the final phase. Only an avalanche airbag can prevent this and is therefore not only advisable for ski instructors and mountain guides, but also for hobby sportsmen.
avalanche transceiver
Modern avalanche transceivers are equipped with a digital search mode. The analogue mode boasts a wider scope. A sound signal indicates, whether the helper moves closer to the victim or away from him/her. The digital search mode allows the exact positioning of the victim thanks to a direction- and distance display. Thanks to the digital search mode it is also possible to look for several victims at the same time. However, this function requires some experience with avalanche transceivers.
Shovel
A shovel belongs to the standard equipment of an alpinist, since rescuing victims would be impossible without it in many cases. Especially in the deeper layers of an avalanche the snow solidifies so much, that it cannot be removed without a shovel. The weight of the shovel ranges from 400 grams with plastic shovel plates to almost 1 kilo with models made from aluminium alloy.
Tube
Beside the shovel also an avalanche tube belongs to the basic equipment of an alpinist. You try to locate the victim’s position through targeted poking. When folded, the tube is approx. 40 centimetres long; opened it can be 2 to 3 metres long and weigh between 300 and 600 grams, depending on the model. Tube, shovel and first-aid package are often offered as complete system.
Did you know?
Stick blistering plaster on all the sensitive spots on your feet before every ski tour. Like this you prevent pain that is very likely to hamper your secure hike and descend.
